Page:Nests and eggs of Australian birds 1901.djvu/12

 future research, shortcomings, no doubt, will be discovered hero and there in the book—no human work was yet perfect—but the author ventures to hope that the sympathetic verdict of students and readers will be, "How few are the mistakes" while his earnest desire is that the work may remain good long after his death, yea, and the deaths of all those who love him. Of course I could not have completed such an important task myself were it not for the able assistance of friends and correspondents (some of whom have been removed by death) in almost every corner of the Continent. One might just as well expect to construct a castle or build a big bridge alone. Moreover, as a good foundation, I have had the benefit of the labours of those worthies (some of them giants in their day) who have preceded me in the field (i.e., Field Naturalists, as opposed to closet workers or systematists) of research.

Gould frequently mentioned to Professor Alfred Newton (Cambridge), that it was his intention to publish an Oology of Australia as a sequel to his great work, "Birds of Australia," and it is probable it was only the magnitude of his other undertakings—two or three of which were unfinished at the time of his death—that hindered him from putting his design into execution.

Regarding my work itself I have little to say, except to mention that the scientific classification and nomenclature are in accordance generally with the "Catalogue of Birds" of the British Museum; while the vernacular names, with few exceptions, may be found in the "List of Vernacular Names for Australian Birds," published by the Australian Association for the Advancement of Science. Since Gould's day, ornithology, like every other science, has advanced apace, consequently Gould's classification is somewhat obsolete. Besides, he himself said his was the classification of a "single country" only; whereas the British Museum Catalogue brings the birds of the whole world under review. It has been found necessary to alter many of Gould's vernaculars, in a number of which he simply repeated the scientific genus, for instance: — Little Acanthiza, Spotted Sericornis, while some were duplicated. "Pied" Crow Shrike occurs twice, as also does "Shining" Flycatcher, "Fasciated" Honey Eater, "White-throated" Honey Eater, "Beautiful" Parrakeet, and others.

Referring to the interesting study of Geographical Distribution, I obtained great assistance from Dr. Ramsay's "Tabular List," while the extra Australian localities are adopted almost entirely from the British Museum "Catalogue."